


When The Brains and Grifter Are Away...

by sirtemple



Category: Leverage
Genre: Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, could be OT3 if you squint really hard, doing dishes, i just want the golden trio doing domestic stuff, video game violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-16
Updated: 2014-12-16
Packaged: 2018-03-01 19:36:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2785214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirtemple/pseuds/sirtemple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>...the thief, hacker, and hitter will play.</p><p>Eliot, Parker, and Hardison left home alone for a night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When The Brains and Grifter Are Away...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Torri-potato (Tiffany_Bridges)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiffany_Bridges/gifts).



> Just a heads up this is unbetaed and unedited but I expect I'll be updating with edits at some point

Nate and Sophie had finally been coerced out of the apartment on a date and they had grudgingly left their thief, hacker, and hitter alone for the night, albeit not without a list of rules and a stern glance on the way out the door. Naturally, without the presence of the team’s oft at odds but never without sexual tension patriarch and matriarch, the apartment was quiet – only filled with the sound of explosions and general destruction.

“Yeah, baby! That’s how it’s done!” Hardison jabbed at the buttons of his controller, pausing only to pump his fist in the air. Parker was perched on the arm of the couch watching the screen intently, her head slightly cocked to the left.

“I don’t understand,” she said to the chorus of gunfire and shouts of “Take that!” Eliot leaned around the kitchen wall to check on his two housemates.

“Hey!” He brandished a kitchen knife in the general direction of the living room upon seeing Hardison’s open bottle of orange soda on the coffee table. “Put a coaster under it! What were you, raised in a barn?” he growled.

Hardison just let out another whoop as more faceless animated enemies were blasted into oblivion. Parker silently leaned forward and slid a coaster under the soda before Eliot decided to get creative with the knife. Eliot just grunted, but the lines around his eyes softened. He disappeared back into the kitchen and soon the sound of clattering dishes and running water mixed with the explosions and shrieks.

“Hey, Parker, c’mere.” Hardison gestured her over. She unfolded herself from her perch and sank onto the couch, snuggling into the warm indent he had made. He wrapped an arm around her absentmindedly and pulled her closer. “What do you say I show you how to take down some bad guys?”

“I already know how to take down bad guys,” she said, but plucked the controller from Hardison’s hands eagerly. She didn’t know about this whole video game thing but she liked how the controller fit in her hand and she liked when Hardison put his arms around her – and she definitely liked blowing up things.

“Alright, so what you want to do is clear the first wave with a grenade and then pick out the ones still hanging around with your rifle – whoa, hold on!” Parker made to start the game, quick to get her hands on the controls. “I haven’t even shown you the controls yet, babe, this game takes a precise, strategic touch that I have perfected and honed over years –”

“Let’s take down bad guys!” Parker lunged forward and pressed start. The game began in the thick of action. Her fingers flew over the buttons. A grenade exploded and immediately afterward the whole front lines had fallen under rifle fire, courtesy of a quick combo by Parker.

“Wha-” Hardison’s eyes bulged a bit but Parker didn’t stop. She laughed as she cut through platoons of animated enemies without a single scratch. When she cleared the level, she let out a cry of joy and turned and threw her arms around Hardison.

“I did it!” She exclaimed to Hardison’s slack-jawed face.

“Wha-” Hardison managed again before Parker gleefully turned her attention back to the screen and hit the button to continue to the next level. If either of them had been paying attention they would have heard Eliot’s fond snort from the kitchen amidst the clattering of plates being stacked.

“Hey, you two get in here and pull your weight!” he yelled as he deftly stacked five plates on one hand and dropped them by the sink.

Parker flipped over the back of the couch. “Last one in the kitchen is on drying duty!”

  
* * *

“She – she beat my high score,” Hardison repeated disbelievingly.

“We all know how your ego got kicked already now dry those dishes faster, Hardison.” Eliot shoved a dripping plate in his direction.

“Calm down, man, you’re just jealous cause you couldn’t beat her either.” Hardison jabbed Eliot with his elbow good-naturedly, earning a fierce glare that would have sent any wise man screaming in the opposite direction.

“I can actually handle losing once in a while.”

“Oh, come on, don’t think I didn’t see that Hulk Eliot look when she whooped your ass-”

“I don’t have a Hulk face, what are you-”

“Don’t try to lie to me, I saw you, there’s no shame-”

“Hey, it wasn’t my high score that was pushed off the board-”

“Now that was very hurtful, don’t think I’m not seeing what you’re pulling here, trying to change the subject-”

“Dammit, Hardison! Watch it!” Eliot snatched the towel from Hardison’s gesticulating hands and mopped up the counter that was now soaked from the cup Hardison had been drying.

Parker stopped humming the Mission Impossible theme and looked up from the pile of plates she was slotting away in the cabinet.

“It’s all just movement and timing. You have to feel it in your thumbs,” she said with a straight face.

Eliot and Hardison paused mid-argument and swiveled their heads in unison to stare at her.

Hardison shook his head. “In my thumbs, woman, I have spent years mastering the art of controlling these very thumbs,” at which point he wiggled both his thumbs more emphatically than Parker thought was really necessary, “and believe me it is not something that one simply feels, this takes muscle memory and hardcore practice, I have dedicated my life to these thumbs-”

Eliot took the opportunity to dump another stack of clean, wet dishes in front of Hardison, splashing water down the front of his shirt. “Less talk, more dry.”

“Watch it, geez, am I doing dishes or taking a bath-”

“You should be all clean now then.” Parker reached over and scooped up a handful of soapy water and flung it in Hardison’s direction. She was mostly successful. Half the water hit Hardison and the rest hit Eliot.

“Oh girl, you’ve done it now.”

Eliot growled and lifted his hands out of the sink. He flicked his hands at the two of them with deadly accuracy, getting soap suds everywhere. Parker retaliated with a wet hand on Eliot’s cheek, but stumbled and ended up clutching the front of Hardison’s shirt, trailing wet marks everywhere.

“Oh, it is on, we gonna go right now, I swear-” Hardison shoved the pile of plates to the back of the counter and dunked his hands in the sink, soaking them in soapy water and revenge. He reached a hand to either side of him and ended up leaving a wet handprint on Eliot’s chest and a soapy streak in Parker’s hair. They all stood there for a moment, covered in water and soap suds before all hell broke loose.

  
* * *

The key turned in the lock. The door opened and Nate walked in first, dressed sharply in a pressed suit jacket, his clothes all ironed and neat for once. He held the door for Sophie, who was draped in dark blue and brought a cloud of jasmine into the apartment with her. After closing the door, Nate smiled and reached for Sophie, grabbing her around the waist, spinning her around, and dipping her. She laughed softly at him and leaned up to kiss him on the lips. They stayed in their embrace for a few more moments, savoring each other’s touch and taste. They broke apart, but only a few inches, breathing each other’s breaths.

“My lady?” Nate murmured and swept Sophie bridal style into his arms.

She threw her arms around his neck. “Oh, Mr. Ford,” she put on a high, flirty American voice, “I’m flattered but I couldn’t possibly-”

“Oh no, Ms. Devereaux, I insist that – whoa!” Nate’s loafer slid suddenly over the hardwood floor. He carefully lowered Sophie back to her feet. He kept a firm grip on her arm as he carefully took a few more steps forward. His shoes squeaked as they slid over the slick floor.

“What’s going on?” Sophie said in her native British accent.

Nate didn’t answer. They continued sliding together over the floor until they reached the light switch which Nate promptly flicked on.

“What the hell-”

A messy trail of water mapped a path from the kitchen to the living room. Soap suds clung to every surface. Sophie peeked into the kitchen.

“I don’t know what they were trying to wash, the sink is full of dishes,” she said, rolling her eyes fondly. When she didn’t get a response from Nate, she turned away from the kitchen to see him facing the living room with his back to her. “Nate?”

He shushed her, waving a hand.

“Nathan Ford, did you just shush me?”

“Sophie!” he whispered, waving his hand again but to gesture her over.

She clicked over on her heels, wobbling a bit on the slippery floor, with a put out expression on her face. When she matched Nate’s gaze, however, it melted into a soft smile. Thief, hacker, and hitter were splayed out over the couch, all dead asleep. Their breathing was completely in sync and they looked as if they had been that way for a while. Parker lay across the couch with her head nestled in Eliot’s lap and knees crooked over Hardison’s legs. She was snoring quietly. Hardison at some point in his slumber had slumped to the side and was leaning on Eliot’s shoulder (and even in the depths of R.E.M. he had the good sense and wherewithal not to drool on Eliot). Even Eliot’s face was smoothed out into what could be called peaceful by Eliot standards. All three were covered in soap bubbles.

Sophie slipped her arms around Nate and rested her head against his arm and he reflexively leaned into her embrace. “Looks like the kids are out for the night, honey,” he said.

“Mm, what are we going to do now?” she whispered back.

“I can think of one or two things.” He made to sweep her up into his arms again, forgetting about the slick floor. They tumbled over in a tangle of limbs and hissed curses.

“On second thought, maybe we could just sleep down here tonight too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading! Any constructive criticism you can provide is absolutely welcome!


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